Which tools and advancements in technology ​allowed the Europeans to sail the open ocean?

1. Watch the BrainPop video on "The Silk Road"2. View the "Intro to Exploration" powerpoint and discuss each slide3. In small group settings, students will be assigned a research topic and then they will jigsaw4. If anytime remains click on the picture to the left and do independent research on your own

Myths and Legends of the Age of Exploration

1. Visit the website "Myths and Legends"2. Complete the Myths and Legends worksheet3. Watch the video (only for fun if time allows "​Atlantis"​4. If any time remains, click on the link to the left and review/research on your own

Websites for Deeper Learning

The caravel of the 15th and 16th centuries was a ship with a distinctive shape and admirable qualities. A gently sloping bow and single stern castle were prominent features of this vessel, and it carried a mainmast and a mizzen mast that were generally lateen-rigged. Although the caravel had already been in use for hundreds of years, it developed into an incredibly fast, easily maneuverable vessel by this time, which was noticed by eminent people. This extraordinary vessel gained fame with the Portuguese and Spanish voyages of discovery.

Ferdinand Magellan was the first person to circumnavigate the globe. Magellan continued to sail south. Soon he found the passage he was seeking. He called the passage the All Saints' Channel. Today it is called the Straits of Magellan. Finally he entered into a new ocean on the other side of the new world. He called the ocean the Pacifico, meaning peaceful. Now that they were on the other side of South America, the ships sailed for China. There were only three ships left at this point as the Santiago had sunk and the San Antonio had disappeared. Magellan thought it would only take a few days to cross the Pacific Ocean. He was wrong. It took nearly four months for the ships to make it to the Mariana Islands. They barely made it and nearly starved during the voyage.

Giovanni da Verrazzano was an Italian explorer who was sent by King Francis I of France to explore the east coast of North America for a possible route to China called the Northwest Passage. ​da Verrazzano was the first to definitively say that what he discovered was a New World, not part of Asia. He was also the first to deny any existence of a passage to China through the Americas. His discoveries were mostly renamed and overlooked as he had the misfortune of making his discoveries during the time of Ferdinand Magellan’s epic circumnavigation of the globe and the Conquest of Mexico, which overshadowed his own discoveries. His exploration of the New York area was overshadowed by Henry Hudson almost a century later. In Narragansett Bay, the Jamestown Verrazzano Bridge and Maryland’s Verrazano Bridge are named in his honor.

​Though by no means a great general, Ferdinand possessed undoubted military capacity; though not a great statesman, he had abundant political skill. The largeness of his ambition was somewhat incongruously associated with a narrowness of view which showed itself very unfortunately for Spain in many instances, particularly in his treatment of the Moors and Jews, and with a smallness of nature which suffered him to treat with neglect his most faithful servants and greatest benefactors, such as Columbus, Navarro, and Ximenez himself. Yet his name is inseparably associated with the most splendid of all periods in the annals of Spain. It was under his guidance that the kingdom was consolidated and grew into its position of highest prosperity and greatest influence as a European power.

Judging by his name, you might think that Henry the Navigator was a great explorer with extraordinary navigating skills. Truth is, Prince Henry of Portugal never set sail on voyages of discovery. A nobleman of English, French, and Spanish ancestry, Prince Henry gained his reputation by sponsoring many voyages of discovery along the western coast of Africa. Prince Henry had several reasons for dispatching his expeditions. He hoped to find rumored Christian allies, add to geographic knowledge, and perhaps find a sea route to the Orient. But he also hoped to find gold. For centuries gold objects from sub-Saharan Africa had made their way to Europe. Some Portuguese even believed that the objects came from a "River of Gold." If only this gold supply could be found, Henry's costly expeditions could begin to pay for themselves and perhaps even strengthen Portugal's economy.

Queen Isabella was the queen of Spain who authorized Christopher Columbus' expedition to look for trade routes to the Far East. Isabella I was born on April 22, 1451 in the town of Madrigal de las Altas Torres. She died on November 26, 1504 in the castle of La Mota. She is often referred to as "La Católica" (the Catholic) a "title" given to her by the Spanish Pope, Alexander VI. This is a title that the Kings and Queens of Spain still retain. She was the daughter of John II, King of Castile and his second wife, Isabella of Portugal.

Vasco de Gama was a Portuguese explorer who searched for and found a trade route to India. ​Da Gama sailed from Lisbon on July 8, 1497, with a fleet of four vessels—two medium-sized three-masted sailing ships, each of about 120 tons, named the “São Gabriel” and the “São Rafael”; a 50-ton caravel, named the “Berrio”; and a 200-ton storeship. With da Gama’s fleet went three interpreters—two Arabic speakers and one who spoke several Bantu dialects. The fleet also carried padrões (stone pillars) to set up as marks of discovery.

The first explorer to pass Cape Bojador was Captain Gil Eannes. It took him two tries. He set out first in 1433 with just one vessel from the southern port of Lagos in the Algarve region of Portugal. Eannes was unable to go the distance. But on the way, or on the way back, he got caught up in the Volta do Mar, which blew him to the Canary Islands – probably FuerteVentura. In spite of the tiny colony of Castilians and French who claimed occupation, Eannes dutifully snatched some natives of the land and headed home

​Bartolomeu Diaz was a Portuguese explorer and the first person to sail around the Horn of Good Hope. Dias’s fleet consisted of three ships: his own São Cristóvão, the São Pantaleão under his associate João Infante, and a supply ship under Dias’s brother Pêro (Diogo in some sources). The company included some of the leading pilots of the day, among them Pêro de Alenquer and João de Santiago, who earlier had sailed with Cão.

​The voyages of Alvise Cadamasto: These are maps of Western Africa and the points Cadamasto explored including the order that each one was discovered.

​vocabulary with answers (well most of them, let's see if you are really using this website to your fullest advantage)